1947-2014 (Archived)

North Valleys High School students sounded a somber note at their homecoming football game celebration Friday, handing out fliers and putting a sign of one of the halftime floats that said “Help Us Find Our Classmate, Karamjit Kaur.”

A North Valleys sophomore who has been missing since 6:30 p.m. Wednesday when she went to ride her bicycle in front of her home near Stead, Karamjit is believed to be a victim of foul play, Reno police said Friday. Police plan to continue searching the North Valleys area today for Karamjit.

The 16-year-old had moved to this country eight months ago, police said.
Even though she was an English language learner at the school, her grades were outstanding, said Principal Cinda Gifford.

“She has a tremendous work ethic, and she’s very well respected by her teachers and her classmates,” Gifford said.

Emily Bassett, treasurer for the sophomore class, helped paint the homecoming signs and print the fliers urging people to help find the missing teenager.

“It makes me angry, especially that someone did this to someone new to this country,” said Bassett, who has a history class with Karamjit. “And I live in the same area as her, so it’s kind of frightening to think it could happen to me or someone else here.”

Reno police Lt. Mike Whan said Kaur, pronounced “core,” had told her family she felt hot and left about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to ride the family’s red-and-silver mountain bike in front of their house on Anchor Point Drive.
When she failed to return within a half hour, the family became worried, contacted other relatives and they began knocking on doors in the neighborhood and searching for her, Whan said.

“She had been wearing her pajamas, and being out there in the cold is what really worried the family,” he said. “She had just been learning to ride the bike for the past month, so she normally only rode it in front of the house.”

One of the girl’s uncles who speaks English called the police to report her missing.

The uncle, Joginder Singh, said after the family searched for Karamjit, they called the hospitals and then the police.

(2 of 3)

“They are not taking it serious and think she will come back tomorrow,” Singh said. “She just barely started school here and so no friends, no phone or any access, so we know for sure someone kidnapped her. They keep thinking she run away and she come back, but I told them, this won’t happen. She has no friends, no boyfriends, no fights or any kind of argument. (Thursday) they started getting serious.”

Whan said that is not the case. He said 99.9 percent of teens who are reported missing return, but officers realized that Karamjit’s situation was different as soon as they arrived Wednesday night.

“We took it seriously from the very beginning, so that is a misperception on their part,” he said.

The family’s missing person report came in at 7:24 p.m. Wednesday, but since it was not a shooting or murder, it was put on a screen as a priority 3, Whan said. An officer called the family about 8 p.m. No one answered so he left a message. At 8:30 p.m., the family called back, and a report was completed and handed to the desk sergeant.

“The desk sergeant sent officers to look for (Karamjit), and as soon as they saw the circumstances, we sent a whole team up there to talk to the family and do a search from 9 p.m. until 5 or 6 in the morning,” Whan said.
On Thursday morning, the search included Raven helicopters and police dogs, he said. They also checked on every registered sex offender in the area.

No Amber Alert was issued because law enforcement needs a vehicle and/or license plate number to help citizens and officers be on the lookout in those instances, Whan said

Police started asking for the public’s help through the media about 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Later that evening, police stopped cars in the area of Karamjit’s neighborhood, asking residents if they had seen the girl.

Amolak Powar, president of the Sikh Temple of Reno where Singh is a committee member, said Friday that Karamjit’s uncle and family are very thankful for the Reno Police Department’s help.

Police found her bicycle at 3 p.m. Thursday about a quarter mile from her home. It had been left at a skateboard park near Silver Lake Elementary School between Red Rock Road and Stead Boulevard northwest of Reno.

(3 of 3)

Whan said the bike was about 200 to 300 yards from the school. There was no evidence it had been struck by a car and dumped there, and there was no evidence a struggle.

The fact that the bicycle was found about a quarter mile from Karmajit’s house is another concern for police because the family said she has never ridden that far from home before, Whan said.

If she was abducted closer to her home, someone else might have found the bike and ridden it down to the skateboard park, which would result in police searching the wrong area, he said.

“The bike could have been put there by a kid who found it at another location and saw it lying on the side of the road, jumped on it and rode it to the skateboard park,” Whan said. “If that’s the case, it changes everything for us. If we knew where the bike had been left when (Karamjit) left it, we would be concentrating our search in that area instead.”

Whan said if someone did find the bicycle and rode it to the skate park, they need to contact the police department and there will be no repercussions.

“I don’t care who they are, and I would say they just borrowed the bike,” he said. “We just need to know the last place she really was riding the bike in or if it was ridden to the skate park by another person.”

Karamjit’s uncle said her family is suffering and has been praying for her return.

“They are very sad. They are depressed and scared,” Singh said of his niece, who has one brother and three sisters.

“Her mother cries every day,” he said. “This is the second day, and everybody worries. The more time, the more fear we have.”

Reward for missing teen: Secret Witness is offering a reward for information leading to the whereabouts of 16-year-old Karamjit Kaur.

She is described as an East Indian, approximately 5’7” tall, 140 pounds, with long black hair and brown eyes. She has a scar on her forehead, and her left canine tooth is longer. She was last seen wearing a black v-neck short-sleeve t-shirt, bright blue cotton pajama bottoms and black flip-flops.

The Reno Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in locating the missing juvenile. Anyone with information relating to this incident should contact the Reno Police Department at 334-2115, Secret Witness at 322-4900, or Secret Witness - See A Crime, Call The Line - (775) 322-4900. All calls to Secret Witness remain anonymous, and Secret Witness pays rewards for information on all crimes.

Info sought on bike: If anyone found Karamjit Kaur’s red-and-silver mountain bike and rode it to a skate park near Stead Elementary School, the Reno Police Department needs that person to contact officers so they can determine where to focus their search for the missing 16-year-old. There will be no repercussions for taking the bicycle, police said. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call 775-334-COPS or remain anonymous and call Secret Witness at 775-322-4900.

How to help: The Bring Bri Justice Foundation center is putting up fliers with a photo of Karamjit Kaur to try and locate the missing 16-year-old Reno girl. Anyone who would like to help put up fliers can visit the center at 5000 Smithridge, Suite 9, which is between Toys R Us and the Verizon store in the shopping center across from Meadowood Mall, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Sunday. The center also will be open next week, but for the center’s hours, call 329-7788.

Why no Amber Alert: For an Amber Alert to be effective in recovering a missing child, the law enforcement agency must have enough information to believe that an immediate broadcast to the public will enhance its efforts to locate the child and apprehend the suspect. This includes a description of the suspect or the suspect’s vehicle. That information is not available in the case of Karamjit Kaur.

According to the Amber Alert Web site, issuing alerts in the absence of such significant information could lead to abuse of the system and ultimately weaken its effectiveness.

Tips for parents: Counselors at North Valleys High School had the following advice for parents about their children’s safety and how to talk to them about their concerns when a friend or classmate is missing.

* School counselors are trained in crisis intervention to help students, but if school is closed, call the Teen Help Crisis Call Center at 775-784-8090 or toll-free at 1-800-992-5757.

* This also is an opportunity for parents to talk to their children about why they need to know who their friends are and why they insist on knowing who they communicate with on the Internet or cell phones. Not everyone is their friend and predators disguise their identities online. Let your children know the reason you check their Internet use and cell phone calls is because you love them and want to protect them from harm.

* If your child is afraid, don’t dismiss that fear. Acknowledge that some things that happen in the world are scary and use that to open a dialogue about how your child can take action to be safer in certain situations. Ask your child how they would do some things differently. For example, maybe they should always walk with a friend or go out after dark in a group. Help them think of ways they can feel more in control and safer at the same time.

Let's hope and pray that she is found safe and sound. Lots of people are helping in her search. Many organisations have put their efforts together to look for Karamjit. Let's hope there is no foul play here. She is one of us.

Published on Saturday, October 3, 2009 by A KaurReno, Nevada: Reno, Nevada: Sixteen-year-old Reno resident Karamjit Kaur has been reported missing, the Reno Police Department says.
Kaur is described as East Indian, 5’7, 140 pounds with long black hair, brown eyes, a left canine tooth is that is longer than her other teeth and a scar on forehead.
RPD says Kaur was last seen at riding her red and silver mountain bike from her residence located on Anchor Point Drive in Reno Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
She was last seen wearing a black v-neck short sleeve tee shirt, bright blue cotton pajama bottoms, and black flip flops. She did not take any possessions with her when she left.2:30 p.m. update: The father of missing Karamjit Kaur implores whoever has taken his daughter to return her safely to her Reno home.
“Whoever took her, bring her back safely. Drop her off. We just want her back,” said Surinder Mathon, 50.
“She is very nice. She is a smart girl.”
Family members and friends are gathered at the gir’s Anchor Point Drive residence, where Kaur lived for the last eight months. They were waiting for news.
“We just hope she’s coming back. It’s the only hope we can have,” said Harry Thandi, a close family friend. “We’re hoping for the best.”
1:45 p.m. update: Searchers called Reno police detectives to the Stead industrial area after discovering a t-shirt, blankets and beer bottles near and beneath a bridge at the end of Echo Avenue.
Reno Police Detective Allan Fox said it appeared the area was used for partying by youths and the discovery was unrelated to the case of Karamjit Kaur.
“We’d rather overkill than miss something,” Fox said.
As a precaution, Fox planned to have a cadaver dog inspect a nearby area where some recent digging has occurred.1 p.m. update: Searchers are combing the industrial areas of Stead in the on-going search for a missing Reno girl.
Karamjit Kaur was last seen Wednesday riding her bicycle,
By foot, on all-terrain vehicles and their four-wheel-drive vehicles, they are inspecting brushy fields, parking lots, and landscaped areas near industrial buildings in the area of Moya and Lear boulevards.
“We’re trying to be as meticulous as we can,” said Randy Post, a volunteer with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Hasty team. “If the brush gets thicker, we try to walk closer together so the chance of detection remains the same.”
Searchers also inspected dumpsters and looked around parked big-rig trailers and storage areas and under bridges.
Among places searched are anywhere persons might seek shelter during a cold night, Post said.11:15 a.m. update: There’s been several tips from the public and also from interviews for detectives to follow in their search for a missing 16-year-old Stead-area girl, Reno Police Department Lt. Mike Whan said this morning.
Karamjit Kaur was last seen Wednesday riding her bicycle and police have been looking for her.
“Actually, it’s been very successful overnight, since the last press release,” Whan said. “We’ve got a whole bunch of Secret Witnesses (anonymous tips) now.”
The tips have been about girls who look like Kaur and also about suspicious people in the North Valleys area, Whan said. They are following up on Secret Witness reports.
They’s also received possible leads from interviews.
“We can’t go into details on those yet, though,” Whan said.
A command post has been set up at the Shell Station on Red Road Rock and officers are still going to vacant and foreclosed homes looking for signs of people. If the house is unlocked or shows signs of forced entry, police will go inside, Whan said.
A cold front is expected to move through the area tonight, but Whan said that does not concern him.
Advertisement8:30 a.m. update: The Reno Police Department reports nothing new this morning in the search for Karamjit Kaur. a 16-year-old Stead-area girl missing since Wednesday.
Police are sending more people out today to knock on doors and ask people if they’ve seen Kaur or have any other information that might help them find her.North Valleys High School students sounded a somber note at their homecoming football game celebration Friday, handing out fliers and putting a sign of one of the halftime floats that said “Help Us Find Our Classmate, Karamjit Kaur.”
A North Valleys sophomore who has been missing since 6:30 p.m. Wednesday when she went to ride her bicycle in front of her home near Stead, Karamjit is believed to be a victim of foul play, Reno police said Friday. Police plan to continue searching the North Valleys area today for Karamjit.
The 16-year-old had moved to this country eight months ago, police said.
Even though she was an English language learner at the school, her grades were outstanding, said Principal Cinda Gifford.
“She has a tremendous work ethic, and she’s very well respected by her teachers and her classmates,” Gifford said.
Emily Bassett, treasurer for the sophomore class, helped paint the homecoming signs and print the fliers urging people to help find the missing teenager.
“It makes me angry, especially that someone did this to someone new to this country,” said Bassett, who has a history class with Karamjit. “And I live in the same area as her, so it’s kind of frightening to think it could happen to me or someone else here.”
Reno police Lt. Mike Whan said Kaur, pronounced “core,” had told her family she felt hot and left about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to ride the family’s red-and-silver mountain bike in front of their house on Anchor Point Drive.
When she failed to return within a half hour, the family became worried, contacted other relatives and they began knocking on doors in the neighborhood and searching for her, Whan said.
“She had been wearing her pajamas, and being out there in the cold is what really worried the family,” he said. “She had just been learning to ride the bike for the past month, so she normally only rode it in front of the house.”
One of the girl’s uncles who speaks English called the police to report her missing. The uncle, Joginder Singh, said after the family searched for Karamjit, they called the hospitals and then the police.
“They are not taking it serious and think she will come back tomorrow,” Singh said. “She just barely started school here and so no friends, no phone or any access, so we know for sure someone kidnapped her. They keep thinking she run away and she come back, but I told them, this won’t happen. She has no friends, no boyfriends, no fights or any kind of argument. (Thursday) they started getting serious.”Whan said that is not the case. He said 99.9 percent of teens who are reported missing return, but officers realized that Karamjit’s situation was different as soon as they arrived Wednesday night.
“We took it seriously from the very beginning, so that is a misperception on their part,” he said.
The family’s missing person report came in at 7:24 p.m. Wednesday, but since it was not a shooting or murder, it was put on a screen as a priority 3, Whan said. An officer called the family about 8 p.m. No one answered so he left a message. At 8:30 p.m., the family called back, and a report was completed and handed to the desk sergeant.
“The desk sergeant sent officers to look for (Karamjit), and as soon as they saw the circumstances, we sent a whole team up there to talk to the family and do a search from 9 p.m. until 5 or 6 in the morning,” Whan said.
On Thursday morning, the search included Raven helicopters and police dogs, he said. They also checked on every registered sex offender in the area.
No Amber Alert was issued because law enforcement needs a vehicle and/or license plate number to help citizens and officers be on the lookout in those instances, Whan said
Police started asking for the public’s help through the media about 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Later that evening, police stopped cars in the area of Karamjit’s neighborhood, asking residents if they had seen the girl.
Amolak Powar, president of the Sikh Temple of Reno where Singh is a committee member, said Friday that Karamjit’s uncle and family are very thankful for the Reno Police Department’s help.
Police found her bicycle at 3 p.m. Thursday about a quarter mile from her home. It had been left at a skateboard park near Silver Lake Elementary School between Red Rock Road and Stead Boulevard northwest of Reno.
Whan said the bike was about 200 to 300 yards from the school. There was no evidence it had been struck by a car and dumped there, and there was no evidence a struggle.
The fact that the bicycle was found about a quarter mile from Karmajit’s house is another concern for police because the family said she has never ridden that far from home before, Whan said.
If she was abducted closer to her home, someone else might have found the bike and ridden it down to the skateboard park, which would result in police searching the wrong area, he said.
“The bike could have been put there by a kid who found it at another location and saw it lying on the side of the road, jumped on it and rode it to the skateboard park,” Whan said. “If that’s the case, it changes everything for us. If we knew where the bike had been left when (Karamjit) left it, we would be concentrating our search in that area instead.”
Whan said if someone did find the bicycle and rode it to the skate park, they need to contact the police department and there will be no repercussions.
“I don’t care who they are, and I would say they just borrowed the bike,” he said. “We just need to know the last place she really was riding the bike in or if it was ridden to the skate park by another person.”
Karamjit’s uncle said her family is suffering and has been praying for her return.
“They are very sad. They are depressed and scared,” Singh said of his niece, who has one brother and three sisters.
“Her mother cries every day,” he said. “This is the second day, and everybody worries. The more time, the more fear we have.”Source: Lenita Powers • lpowers@rgj.com RGJ.COM

The Reno Police Department has located Karamjit Kaur in Merrillville, Indiana. The 16-year-old had been missing since last Wednesday.
Detectives with the Reno Police Department worked through the night with new investigative leads, focusing on a family member who was visiting the Reno area just prior to Karamjit's disappearance.
With assistance of the local FBI, along with the Merrillville Indiana Gang Response Investigation Team, Karamjit was located at America’s Best Inn in Merrillville with her brother-in-law, Parvinder Singh.
Karamjit was unharmed and is now in police custody.
At this time circumstances surrounding her disappearance are still under investigation to determine any criminal conduct

1947-2014 (Archived)

Now I would like to know what Mr. Parvinder Singh ji is/was up to! And whether he has any remorse whatsoever for the agony that he has brought into the lives of his family?

His motivations are not as noteworthy as the fact of his sense of entitlement --" its' all about ME -- and what I can do. "

The report says she was unharmed -- Good! Do you think she was emotionally traumatized? :welcome:

Oh Well! This man is now in deep legal trouble. Family kidnappings are viewed as "kidnapping, " even when there are "mitigating" circumstances or intentions are good. Family forgiveness will not save him. And in the US -- there is a very strong probability that he will do some serious time in prison. He will have to have a very good story to escape, requiring nothing short of a clear cut case that Karamjit was a victim of parental abuse.

ਨਾਮ ਤੇਰੇ ਕੀ ਜੋਤਿ ਲਗਾਈ (Previously namjap)

Reno, Nevada: Reno police say they have found a 16-year-old girl who went missing last week with her brother-in-law in Indiana. Authorities said they found Karamjit Kaur unharmed with Parvinder Singh at a hotel in Merrillville, Ind.
Kaur had ben missing since Wednesday after she was last seen riding her bicycle.
Police say the case is still under investigation to determine whether there was any criminal conduct.
Authorities say students and staff helped identify Singh to get a lead on Kaur’s whereabouts. Police say Singh was visiting Reno before Kaur’s disappearance.
Authorities combed the area where Kaur was last seen riding a bike last week, and her parents pleaded for her safe return. The bike was found a day later at a skateboarding park.Source: San Jose Mercury

Update at 10:45 a.m.: A budding romance with her pregnant sister’s new husband is seemingly what led to the disappearance of a 16-year-old girl who was found unharmed by police Monday morning in Indiana, authorities said.

Since Wednesday evening, Reno police had been investigating the disappearance of Karajmit Kaur as an abduction. Her mother reported she disappeared in broad daylight after riding her bike near their Stead home. For four days, police and volunteers waged full-scale search efforts trying to find the North Valleys High School girl, who has been in the country less than one year and does not speak much English. ​

But around 5:45 a.m., Monday, FBI detectives working with law enforcement officers found Kaur in a motel room in a small Indiana town with her brother-in-law, 29-year-old Parvinder Singh, said Lt. Mike Whan, of Reno police. Kaur was not harmed, and her parents were flying to Merrillville, Ind., Monday to retrieve her. The incident is still under investigation to determine if any criminal charges will be filed.​

Police credit Kaur’s classmates for reporting Secret Witness tips that a man older than her — not her father — had been visiting with her during school breaks. Those tips led police to Singh, who had been visiting the Kaur family the last few weeks and was supposed to return to Indiana two days before Kaur went missing. Police said he left instead on Wednesday night, taking Kaur with him.​

“We handled this as an abduction from the very beginning,” Whan said. “Not once did we scale back our efforts. Abduction was the theory until we had information that she was safe.”​

Lauren Denison, of the Bring Bri Justice Foundation, that coordinated volunteer searches over the weekend, said she was pleased Kaur is safe, and hopes the incident did not cause the public to not take future missing cases seriously.“We have to look until they are found,” she said. “We just have to.”​

Whan said the pair orchestrated her disappearance during the weeks Singh had been living in Kaur’s home. Singh co-owns a convenience store in Merrillville, Ind., where about 30,000 people reside. Earlier this year, Singh married one of Kaur’s three sisters, who is several months pregnant. Police learned that sister lived with Singh in Indiana for a couple weeks, but returned to her parent’s home to prepare for giving birth. ​

Usually, Kaur’s father and younger brother would supervise Kaur when she was outside the home, rarely leaving her by herself. But detectives learned that Kaur and Singh had planned to get them out of the home by asking her father to pick up something from the store, leaving just her mother and sisters home. That’s when Kaur left the home on the ruse she was “hot” and was going for a bike ride while wearing her pajamas and flip flops, police said.​

After police identified Singh as possibly being involved in her disappearance, Whan said detectives and FBI agents tracked him to Merrillville, Ind. When he was not found at his home, authorities began checking local motels, and then found the pair early Monday morning.​

Sunday, dozens of members of Reno’s Sikh community gathered at their temple and prayed for Kaur’s safe return. Many, including her relatives, said they were convinced Kaur was kidnapped, and the victim of a violent crime. They described Kaur as nice and sweet, without a boyfriend, and who would never runaway.​

Whan said Kaur’s father is besides himself, and disgraced at the incident.​

The immoral brother-in-law with a pregnant wife seducing her little sister, the young girl acting in a way she had to know was wrong and now the father feeling "disgraced." A sordid family drama gone public.

How will this affect the perception the next time a young Sikh girl is missing?

Still, we can be grateful she's still alive and not sold into the sex trade or something.

Now I would like to know what Mr. Parvinder Singh ji is/was up to! And whether he has any remorse whatsoever for the agony that he has brought into the lives of his family?

His motivations are not as noteworthy as the fact of his sense of entitlement --" its' all about ME -- and what I can do. "

The report says she was unharmed -- Good! Do you think she was emotionally traumatized? :welcome:

Oh Well! This man is now in deep legal trouble. Family kidnappings are viewed as "kidnapping, " even when there are "mitigating" circumstances or intentions are good. Family forgiveness will not save him. And in the US -- there is a very strong probability that he will do some serious time in prison. He will have to have a very good story to escape, requiring nothing short of a clear cut case that Karamjit was a victim of parental abuse.

1947-2014 (Archived)

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